Margherita style pan pizza

completely made from scratch using one pan

Perfect Pizza at home! This Margherita style pan pizza is made from scratch, including the sauce all using only one pan. A pizza needs a lot of heat and a hot base so the dough can brown or toast underneath. Not everyone has a pizza oven at home and not everyone has an oven stone. However most people own a frying pan. For this pizza recipe you’ll need an ovenproof pan with a thick bottom, ideally a cast iron pan. The oven has to go to maxim heat, so whack it on full to preheat. Heat up your cast iron pan in the hot oven for 10 minutes, then carefully add your pizza dough to the hot pan. Yes it will start cooking and bubbling as you assemble the pizza, and that’s what you want. Once the ingredients are assembled, finish cooking it in the oven for 10 minutes and you will have a perfect pan pizza. Some notes, I also tried heating the pan on the stove, but that gave me mixed results. The oven works best. Enjoy my Margherita style pan pizza at home!

Ingredients

17.5oz - 500g all purpose 00 strong flour (3 ¾ cups)

1 ½ cups - 350ml warm water

10g - 2 tbsp olive oil for dough (plus more to drizzle)

7g - 2¼ tsp dry yeast

1 ½ tsp - 8g fine salt

9oz - 250g Mozzarella cheese (sliced)

1 x 14oz - 400g can cherry tomatoes (or tomato puree)

Half bunch of fresh basil

1 tbsp oregano

3 garlic cloves

Steps

Step 1

In a powerful electric mixer with a large mixing bowl, add the flour. Then Add the salt and give it a whisk to mix dry ingredients.

Step 2

In a bowl or measuring jug, add the warm water and yeast, mix well and leave to rest 15 minutes to activate the yeast.

Step 3

Add yeast water to flour in mixer bowl. Add olive oil and use the dough hook attachment. Beat for 10 minutes on low or the knead setting. If you don’t have an electric mixer, then knead by hand

Step 4

Remove bowl from mixer, cover the top with a lid or cling film and leave to rest in a warm spot for 60 to 90 minutes.

Step 5

The dough should have at least doubled, even tripled in size, transfer to a flour dusted bench, shape it into an even cylinder or bread loaf and cut into three even pieces. Using both hands, stretch the sides of dough by tucking it under itself, that should give you smooth bun like balls.

Step 6

Cover with cloth of cling film and leave out for 1 to 2 hours. Alternatively, oil some bowls and place in the fridge covered with oiled cling film overnight. You can keep them in the fridge up to 48 hours. They will slowly rise in the cold.

Step 7

If using the dough from the fridge, take out 30 minutes before use so it reaches room temperature.

Step 8

Preheat your oven to maximum temperature.

Step 9

Dust your bench or board with flour and stretch your dough into a disc using your hands while creating an outer crust. If this step is too difficult, use a rolling pin and roll into an approx. 12 inch size ready for your pan.

Step 10

Place your cast iron pan in the oven (I used a 12 inch pan) and leave to heat for 10 minutes. Once hot, remove empty hot pan and place on your stove top.

Step 11

Take your pizza dough and carefully place in the bottom of the hot pan. It will start to cook and that’s fine, you will see the dough start to bubble as you assemble it.

Step 12

To the pizza base, add one minced garlic clove per pizza nicely spread out. Add 2 or 3 pinches of dried oregano, add one third of the cherry tomatoes or tomato puree, season with salt, scatter one third of the sliced mozzarella cheese pieces (not too much cheese). Add fresh picked basil leaves. Drizzle olive oil around pizza and over basil leaves.

Step 13

Place in oven at maximum temperature and cook for approx. 10 minutes or until cheese starts to brown a little.

Step 14

Remove from oven transfer to a board and cut ready to eat. You may also scatter some fresh basil leaves on top. Enjoy!